The unsung heroes of history

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We have come to see D-Day as historically inevitable, a great feat of arms
rehearsed in countless books and hallowed by Hollywood.

But success was anything but certain, and behind the soldiers who fought on
the beaches were many others, less often celebrated: scientists, spies,
logistics planners, meteorologists, resistance fighters and men like the
late John Stone, a mine expert whose bravery helped to pave the way for the
biggest amphibious assault in history.

The Allies suffered some 12,000 casualties on D-Day, but without the
reconnaissance and intelligence that preceded it, the toll would have been
far higher.